Sunday, April 25, 2010

I was out for my first great hike in the woods this morning. The Bruce Trail basically runs around Orangeville and this morning I hit a section of the trail that is basically Hockley Valley Provincial Park.

I was alone on the trail that I was re-discovering after a few years away. There is one area that cuts through quite thick pine and the trail gets dark, even on a bright day. I've never seen anything more than a racoon in this area over the 15 years I've lived here. However, there are always rumours about wild cats, bears, wolves and coyotes being spotted.

No one actually photos any of these 'beasts' so it's kind of like the legend of bigfoot. However, it's not impossible that any of these animals could stray down from the north.

So - as I was walking through the woods alone, I began to wonder if the absense of dead animal meat from our vegan systems has any effect on how live animals treat us. It is said that when you are eating meat, you are ingesting their fear and adrenaline. Animals have much stronger senses than us, what if they could sense these things on a meat-eating human?

It would be hard, and possibly dangerous, to do a study on this! But, I have noticed that when I used to run by a dog that was fenced in a yard, I could pretty much predict that exact moment (just after I'd passed) that the dog would start barking hysterically. Now, quite often the dogs don't bark at all.

I realize this theory is out in left field and my sanity may be in question. My question to you, vegan reader, is have you had any threatening experiences with an animal, domestic or wild?

An update - I'm down about three pounds since my last post. The energy is coming back and I'm pretty confident about meeting my goals set in that last post.